I recently read a great book by Michael Masterson called The Pledge. That got me checking out his other stuff, including another one he wrote called Ready, Fire, Aim.
At first glance, our brains tell us; “Hey, that must be a typo – it’s supposed to be ready, aim, and then fire!”
But Masterson got it right.
He argues that we need to focus less on planning (which is often over-thinking,) and more on action.
I remember my first time ever playing paintball in the woods. I thought up my plan for a few weeks before the big day, and I was ready to claim the victory and bragging rights with my buddies.
When the whistle blew for us to run out into the forest, I was ready with my plan:
I would hide in the bushes, and patiently wait. I would pick off the opposing team one by one, in a nice and neat fashion.
(One of the most famous snipers in US history is Chuck Mawhinney – so I thought that sniping would be in my blood.)
Well, I didn’t do too well that day.
I kept getting shot by people running around the path, firing their shots out in my general direction. They sprayed them around without trying to be too precise, and one of them always seemed to hit me.
So much for the calm, cool and patient approach!
The following year I played paintball, and I used the ready, fire, aim approach. And I did a heck of a lot better.
A lot of my shots missed, but I got lucky – a lot of them hit too.
It’s the same for business. Don’t be afraid to spray your shots around and see what hits, you’ll have a lot more success that way than sitting back and waiting for the perfect shot.
I don’t mean to run around like a chicken-with-your-head-cut-off, but try different things to see what you enjoy and what you’re good at doing, instead of trying to construct the perfect plan.
If you’re ready to stop planning and to pull the trigger, check out my next group program for coaches which starts soon:
